Sachin aiming 2011 World Cup

London, Aug 6 (IBNS) Sachin Tendulkar wants to extend his world Test scoring record to 15,000 runs and play in a winning India team in the 2011 World Cup.

In a major feature interview in the September issue of The Wisden Cricketer magazine, Tendulkar confirms that he has plenty of ambitions remaining and no thoughts of retirement:

“I have given it [retirement] no thought at all,” he says, “I am good at cricket, so I will play a while longer. I still love the game as much as ever, it is my job but it remains my passion too. This is fun. Cricket remains in my heart.”

Despite his huge achievements as scorer of most Test and ODI runs and centuries, Tendulkar says there is more to come.

“I am not pleased yet with what I have done. Sunil Gavaskar has told me that I have to get to 15,000 runs; he said he would be angry with me, he would come and catch me if I didn’t. I admire him so much and to score that many would be a terrific achievement but that is not the only aim.”

What else? “Winning the World Cup in 2011,” he tells the magazine.

And Tendulkar is at pains to reinforce his belief that Test cricket will remain the supreme form of the game, despite the counter-claims of T20:

“There is no way Test cricket is dying,” he says. “Twenty20 cricket is the dessert and you can’t survive on that. Who wants to eat only desserts? Test cricket is my main course, with all the meat and vegetables, and then it is nice to have Twenty20 as a dessert.

“Maybe in 10 years or even now people will pick up cricket bats thinking only about the huge money in Twenty20 cricket. Money should just be coincidental. The passion and the desire are the most important thing. I worry about runs, not contracts.”

He is also quick to refute suggestions from former Australia coach John Buchanan, that he might be losing his confidence against short and quick bowling:

“It is only his opinion; John Buchanan doesn’t have to be right all the time. If I couldn’t handle short deliveries, then I wouldn’t still be scoring runs. Maybe he needs to change his opinion … There must be something very wrong with all the bowlers around the world that they have allowed me to score so many runs.”

The September issue of The Wisden Cricketer, the world’s best-selling cricket monthly, is on sale at leading outlets from Friday 7 August.